The Bowlus company built a small number of aluminum bodied travel trailers in the 1930s. The trailers were inspired by the fuselage of the aircraft of the day. (William Bowlus was shop foreman at Ryan Airline company, and supervised construction of Lindburgh's "Spirit of St Louis" aircraft.)
Here's an original 1935 Bowlus Road Chief.
This photo comes from the Gooding and Company catalog for the auction of this trailer. Fewer than 20 Road Chiefs are known to still exist.
http://www.goodingco.com/vehicle/1935-bowlus-road-chief/
Bowlus couldn't make a go of selling expensive trailers during the Depression. He sold the company to one of his salesmen, Wally Byam. Byam went on to start the Airstream company using the Bowlus designs. The rest, as they say, is history.
Fast forward to the 1990s. Auto collector John Long purchases a Bowlus Road Chief and restores it to better than new condition. Seeing people's reactions to the trailer, Long decides to build replica trailers. Bowlus Road Chief, LLC, is formed.
The new Bowlus Road Chief is larger than the original, and outfitted with modern conveniences. The trailer's features are described here
http://www.bowlusroadchief.com/specs/
Here's a video that shows the inspiration for the Road Chief, and describes some of its features.
http://www.bowlusroadchief.com/
Here's an original 1935 Bowlus Road Chief.
This photo comes from the Gooding and Company catalog for the auction of this trailer. Fewer than 20 Road Chiefs are known to still exist.
http://www.goodingco.com/vehicle/1935-bowlus-road-chief/
Bowlus couldn't make a go of selling expensive trailers during the Depression. He sold the company to one of his salesmen, Wally Byam. Byam went on to start the Airstream company using the Bowlus designs. The rest, as they say, is history.
Fast forward to the 1990s. Auto collector John Long purchases a Bowlus Road Chief and restores it to better than new condition. Seeing people's reactions to the trailer, Long decides to build replica trailers. Bowlus Road Chief, LLC, is formed.
The new Bowlus Road Chief is larger than the original, and outfitted with modern conveniences. The trailer's features are described here
http://www.bowlusroadchief.com/specs/
Here's a video that shows the inspiration for the Road Chief, and describes some of its features.
http://www.bowlusroadchief.com/